Federal Partnership
Federal Highway
Administration
The FHWA's Wildlife Crossing Pilot Program allocated $350 million for exactly the infrastructure Ætheris builds. We are designed for this funding, this mission, and these corridors.
U.S. Department of Transportation
The Alignment
Built for the
Wildlife Crossing Pilot Program
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act directed FHWA to establish the Wildlife Crossing Pilot Program — allocating $350 million specifically for wildlife crossing and detection infrastructure on federal and state highways.
Ætheris's Sentinels of the Wild system is purpose-built for exactly this mandate: AI-powered wildlife detection along highway corridors, real-time driver alerting, and collision prevention data collection that serves both safety and conservation goals.
Every engineering and compliance decision in our system was made with FHWA procurement standards in mind. We are ready to deploy in FHWA-identified priority corridors today.
Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act
This program represents the largest dedicated federal investment in wildlife-vehicle collision prevention in U.S. history. FHWA is actively seeking qualified technology partners with deployable systems that meet federal highway standards.
Ætheris meets every eligibility criterion — FHWA clear-zone compliance, MUTCD-standard dynamic signage, NTCIP-compatible data integration, and privacy-first architecture suitable for public infrastructure deployment.
What Ætheris Brings
Our Offer to FHWA
A fully deployable system that advances FHWA's wildlife crossing mandate while simultaneously serving the roadway departure detection mission — double the safety value per deployment dollar.
47+ Species Classification at Range
Sentinel Nodes classify wildlife at up to 300m using thermal, radar, and acoustic sensing — day or night, in all weather. Species classification against a library of 47+ animals, with custom training available within weeks.
MUTCD-Compliant Dynamic Signing
PathSign displays meet MUTCD standards for dynamic message signs on federal highways — 5,000-nit visibility, triggered only on confirmed detections, activated in under one second of event confirmation.
FHWA Clear-Zone Compatible Hardware
Sentinel Node and WatchPost mounting systems are designed for breakaway-compatible installation within FHWA clear zone requirements — no special highway design modifications required for deployment.
Conservation & Corridor Intelligence
Every deployment generates species movement data, crossing pattern analysis, and collision-risk mapping — feeding FHWA's long-term corridor planning and providing the performance data required for program reporting.
Roadway Departure Detection Included
The same infrastructure that serves the Wildlife Crossing mandate also detects vehicle departures and dispatches emergency services — no competitor offers this dual capability from a single rural installation.
State DOT System Compatibility
CorridorLink provides NTCIP-compatible output for state Traffic Management Systems and open API endpoints for multi-agency data sharing — compatible with existing DOT infrastructure investments.
Procurement Readiness
FHWA Eligibility
Checklist
Ætheris was engineered with federal highway procurement standards in mind from day one.
Wildlife Detection & Alerting Technology
Sentinel Nodes provide real-time wildlife detection and PathSign units deliver driver alerting — the core technology requirement of the Wildlife Crossing Pilot Program.
MUTCD Dynamic Message Sign Standards
PathSign displays are engineered to MUTCD specifications for variable message signs on federal highways — brightness, legibility, and activation protocols all meet federal standards.
Clear-Zone Compliance
All roadside hardware is designed for breakaway-compatible installation within FHWA clear-zone requirements — no special design exceptions or highway modifications required.
Performance Data Collection
Every deployment generates collision event data, species detection counts, and alert effectiveness metrics — the program reporting data FHWA needs to evaluate pilot performance.
Privacy-First Public Infrastructure Design
No surveillance capability by hardware design — suitable for deployment on public rights-of-way without the community consent challenges that camera-based systems face.
SAM.gov & Grants.gov Registration
Ætheris is actively completing federal registration for SAM.gov and Grants.gov — expected to be complete for the next program cycle.
What FHWA Brings
What This Partnership
Unlocks for Both Sides
Program Funding
Access to the $350M Wildlife Crossing Pilot Program — the primary federal funding mechanism for exactly the infrastructure Ætheris is built to deploy.
Priority Corridor Identification
FHWA's national highway data identifies the highest-collision-risk wildlife corridors in the country — the sites where Ætheris deployment creates the most immediate impact.
State DOT Coordination
FHWA's relationships with all 50 state DOTs create the interagency coordination pathway that accelerates Ætheris deployment from pilot to scaled adoption.
Procurement Standards
Federal procurement standards developed with FHWA create a replicable specification that any state DOT can use to procure Ætheris systems — removing the barriers to scaled deployment.
Research Partnership
FHWA's Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center provides the research infrastructure for formal performance evaluation — producing the peer-reviewed data that drives industry adoption.
National Data Integration
Integration with FHWA's national highway data systems amplifies the conservation and safety intelligence generated by every Ætheris corridor deployment.
Begin the Conversation
$350 Million is Waiting.
So Are the Animals.
We're seeking FHWA partnership to access the Wildlife Crossing Pilot Program and deploy Sentinels of the Wild in priority corridors across Texas and beyond.